Autumn is a season of transition, and one of its best aspects is also its worst: one day, it can be bone-chilling cold, warning us that winter is near; and the next, the breeze is almost balmy, a gentle reminder that summer wasn’t that long ago, and even though the leaves have changed color, there is plenty of time yet for a dance in the summerhouse.

Some of our most memorable moments are the ones we spend with the people we love. Autumn Dance, original oil painting by Steve Henderson; licensed print at Framed Canvas Art and iCanvasART. Limited edition print at Vision Art Galleries.

Autumn Dance captures one of these transitory moments — a first, and best, father/daughter dance during a time of life when a young girl knows that she is a princess, and her father is a king. Highlighted by light, the couple is yet in a world of their own, the birds on the water serving as their primary audience.

Someday, when the little girl is older, the dances she attends may be more formal, more established, more conventional — but they also won’t be as magical, because this is a spontaneous, unaffected event. In a time when the family is under increasingly hostile scrutiny, and when the focus is on the sad dysfunction of some, it is easy to overlook that many families still function well, fulfilling their purpose as a place of safety, haven, protection, and teaching for the world’s vulnerable little ones.

For many children, the first and best teachers are their parents, and fortunate is the young woman who learned her first dance steps at the leading of her father. He may also show her how to reel in her first fish, use a pocket knife without cutting her finger, and defend herself in a tight situation. While television and movies like to portray fathers — if they are in the script at all — as clueless buffoons, a true father, like the one in Autumn Dance, delights in the little girl that he knows will all too shortly — before many autumns pass by — grow into a strong, confident mature woman — who will always hold a place in her heart for him.

Share this:

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

About This Woman Writes

Carolyn Henderson is the marketing manager of Steve Henderson Fine Art. In addition to her This Woman Writes blog, Carolyn writes a regular art column for FineArtNews, an online newsletter for artists and art collectors.